OU on the BBC: Indian School - Episode guides

What's it like to grow up in a country with the largest child labour force in the world...

What's it like to grow up in a country with the largest child labour force in the world, an ancient caste system and a film industry bigger than Hollywood? Over 10 episodes Indian School follows the highs and lows of the students and teachers at Kalmadi Shamrao High School and Rewachand Bhojwani Academy.

1. The new boy

It’s June and the start of a new school year at Kalmadi High School. For 14 year-old Ashutosh this is the eighth new school he has attended in almost as many years - following his father’s engineering job as it has taken him around India and the world. We experience the familiar agonies of trying to fit in, make new friends and pick up the power politics of the playground. In contrast, some self-assured 16 year olds are running for election as prefects.

2. Transcendental education

Bavajee, the IT teacher at Bhojwani, has a special teaching style. He is the school guru, apparently able to calm even the most aggressive pupil with meditation. But this week he has a tough challenge. Rahul is a disruptive pupil who is stirring things up in the classroom and at home. Will he respond to Bavajee’s reflective methods or continue to wind up everyone around him?

3. Cyber genius

Pune is one of the Information Technology Centres of India and the world. This is making the city of four million people grow exponentially. We follow Delap, the father of one of our pupils, as he spends his nights working in a call centre, using the pseudonym “Derek” and helping Americans with their travel plans. It brings in money but means he hardly sees his beloved son. Meanwhile, Mrs Kapur, headteacher of Bhojwani, sees all this growth damaging her beloved city, clogging up the streets and creating a rift between the haves and have-nots of Pune. And, as she says, it’s all being achieved “on the backs of poorly-paid teachers”.

4. Hinglish

It’s August and monsoon rains pour on Pune. This is the time for the annual English debating competition. In a world of IT booms and globalisation, English is increasingly becoming vital for success. We follow two of Kalmadi’s brightest pupils, Prem and Sahil, as they battle it out to be the top English language debater in town. The judges have set an appropriate topic to debate in upwardly mobile Pune: “Is India Losing its Identity in a Globalised World?” On the one hand it’s a story of youthful ambition and rivalry; on the other it’s about acquiring the skills to get on in this brave new world.

5. Girl talk

Komal is one of the most popular students in Kalmadi senior college. She doesn’t study particularly hard and loves to socialise - to the annoyance of her authoritarian older brother, Nickil. After a recent argument she’s been grounded, so she’s going to have to celebrate her seventeenth birthday at home with her family rather than out on the town with her friends.

Meanwhile, as the only unmarried staff member at Kalmadi High School, school counsellor Sonal is beginning to feel the pressure to opt for an arranged marriage. She’s been trying to find a husband for what seems like ages. Now she resorts to marriage websites in a bid to track down “a suitable boy”. However, it’s less embarrassing, perhaps, than the new sex education classes she has to run at school.

6. A spiritual journey

This year, for the first time in years, the Hindu festival of Divali and the Muslim festival of Eid fall in the same week in September. This film follows children and teachers from the two communities as they prepare for one of the most joyous times of year.

For older children at Bhojwani Academy, there is another journey to be made. The school is determined that they should see the other side of life and send them to the countryside to stay in a poor village. For 15 year-old Diva it’s an awakening in many ways. Made to give up her beloved mobile phone and live on a rural diet alongside country children, she starts to reassess her material life and comforts in Pune.

7. Caste and class

Caste is a tricky subject in Pune. This year has seen caste riots sweeping the city. Mrs Kapur doesn’t want her privileged pupils at Bhojwani Academy to live in a "caste bubble" and decides to tackle the issues head on in the classroom. As part of her policy, she’s waived the fees for the children of Munda, the school cleaner, to be educated alongside the predominantly high-caste Bhojwani students.

Munda’s life has been dominated by caste issues, ever since she married a lower caste man. We follow her as she travels back to her home village for the first time in 15 years, to seek reconciliation with the family who rejected her when she chose love over caste.

8. East meets West

“Everyone likes western dance because it’s just so easy," bemoans Jenny, an expert traditional Indian style dancer at Bhojwani Academy. Jenny puts in hour after hour perfecting the complex gestures needed. And she’s quite prepared to argue the merits of eastern and western styles with her classmates, who seem more interested in westernised Bollywood moves than ancient techniques. But Viraj, the school heart-throb, has his eyes set firmly on Bollywood fame - he’s practising too, for a showcase that he hopes will get him a movie role in Mumbai.

Meanwhile, Kalmadi High school is hosting a traditional music and dance competition. This year there’s a new category, - “fusion dance” - reflecting changing influences. It combines western and Indian styles. As ever, Kalmadi head Mrs Saxena hopes for nothing less than first prize for her school.

9. Howzat!

November and December are great months for cricket. Clear blue skies and rock hard wickets make for some serious competition in all corners of Pune. Poor children play “gulley cricket” in the slums and hope that, one day, they might get a place at the Pune Club, one of the city’s top training grounds for young talent.

We follow Rohit, who has grown up in the shadow of the great Pune Club and always dreamed of captaining their team. He’s the son of a groundsman, living in servants’ quarters, but once through the club’s gates he plays alongside the city’s elite and the sons of millionaires. His cricketing dreams are all the more important as they represent his family’s best chance of escaping poverty.

10. Exam fever

March, the end of the school year and, for some pupils, the toughest time of all. We follow some of the children we have seen earlier in the series as they take on some extremely high-pressured exams. Their parents haven’t been forking out school fees for them to fail now, so they’ve been having extra tuition and staying up late to get the best possible marks that could decide their futures.

Indian School starts tonight at 20:30
What do you think about the Indian education system? Should British schools be more like their Indian counterparts?

Definitely, this is the best way of 'learning'. However, extreme pressures can cause a problem - so its striking a balance. Certainly, education in Britain is getting worse by the year, I have seen many changes as a teacher, and SOME improvements.

hey all in here.. well m kinda new to the forum.. juss watched the first eposide ov this series on bbc 2 today..
well first of all, its really great of bbc to go all the way back home to india and get feeds from there..

well, really enjoyed seeing pune.. been ages since i last visited pune and was reminded of my days in pune.. i have studied in a school in pune (ENNS) for about 3 and half yrs!

i have always been living abroad since i was a kid, but then i had to go back to india for like 4 years.. and i spent a nice time down there..

Anurag feels that in pune people just live for themselves, but it is not so.. its true that people do have a busy life in pune, but they are not behind in socializin as well.. pune is really a great place to be in..

Just watched the Indian School - I was really inspired by the philosophy of the school and really felt that this is the kind of educational environment I want my son to be educated in. I as a parent am dealing with discipline in his school and it is quite demoralising that the school depends on a system which consistently produces negative results in children. Teachers tend to use it as a means of controlling behaviour but I would question their ability and skill in motivating pupils, after all they spend enough time with my child to get to know him for who he is and not what he is. I would like to see these methods employed in our schools. What a difference this would make to the learning experience of children.

i wish my school had corporal punishment because nobody in my class is QUIET
the teacher can't shut them up and occasionally breaks down
they frequently choose someone and pick on them
fights break out in the class
nobody works ever
and you cannot make them behave by "encouraging them" because nobody wants to be educated
that is why i think it should be brought back don't blame the teacher for being "lazy"because she has tried everything seriously. these nutters are bringing down the few who do want to work but they must suffer for them
kids will hardly "respect" teachers other than those who truely earn it and those are in very short supply the only way to make some people learn is to make them learn

i think that the indian school has a very good educational system than overseas educational system.. i have been overseas and can proudly say that i like the way are school system works.

we not only learn about the world but also about ones character, moral values and general ettiquete.

i think overseas schools lack teaching the students about behavior... rather than focusing on experience factor they should focus on general moral values and to set the individuals character to cope with the outside world and the challenges it brings.

A BIG hug to Ms. Madhavi Kapur, her Staff and the Children of Bhojwani's.
I wish all involved schools well and good luck.

Kudos to O. Filler, B. Nandi, Aneela. Z, and Aerin for you opinions.
I am not all praises for the West but the "west" is not only McDonald's and Cadbury's.
And, to all future Indians, sombody, somewhere, some time ago, said, "Patriotism is the last resort of scoundrels"
Positiv "National Pride" is for others to observe and not for citizens gloat over.

Much prefer the idea, that the young man in today's episode brandished, World Citizens.

To the BBC and Open University, thankyou for trying to air and place ideas on the world arena.

Indian schools are striving to provide the best education within the available resources. However, there is a wide disparity between schools. There are schools in India where every student is provided with a personal laptop and there are schools where there are not even proper classrooms available. Having said that; there is one thing common among all Indian Schools, a will to provide for a secure future through education and that is what really matters.

Hi. I belong to the school featured in the current series Indian Schools, episodes of which have already been aired in the UK and the relay of which has just begun here in India. I'm very happy to read the reviews it has got and the goodwill it has created amongst so many! It was heart warming to read the messages which talked so highly about the education that the school imparts, the focused and attentive students, the dedicated teachers, the value system that the school imparts and the excellent human beings that the school is churning out! It speaks volumes about the hard work and sincere efforts that have gone into the making, building, formulating, upholding and balancing of this school. It has taken 12 years of complete dedication to get the school to where it stands today! The credit for this goes solely to our head teacher Madhavi Kapoor and her team.
But.. our school stands at the point of extinction!!
Lack of space, lack of funds, are bogging us down.
Dedication of whole staff, enthusiasm in classrooms, the gusto of activities, the laughter of children still continues and will, hopefully, last forever!!!
Cummon, lets make it happen!

Copyright & revisions

Publication details

Copyright information

Body text - Creative-Commons: The Open University

Image 'Ashutosh, the new boy' - Copyrighted: The Open University

Feeds

If you enjoyed this, why not follow a feed to find out when we have new things like it? Choose an RSS feed from the list below. (Don't know what to do with RSS feeds?)
Remember, you can also make your own, personal feed by combining tags from around OpenLearn.

The Open University

The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302). The Open University is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.